Automatic sprinkler.



No. 744,791.. I PATENTED NOV. 24, 1903.

H. c. PERHAM.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER. Arrmoulon rum) MAB. e. 1900.

no MODEL,

iatented November 24, 1903 PATENT OFFICE.

HAVEN C. PERHAM, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO KITSON MACHINE COMPANY, OF LOWELL OF MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION SPRINKLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,791, dated November 24, 1903. Application filed March 8, 1900. Serial No. 7 890. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, HAVEN C. PERHAM, a .citizen of the United States,residing at Lowell,

-in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sprinklers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to .which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in automatic sprinklers, so called, and more particularly to automatic sprinklers employed in trunks or chutes used in cotton and other mills for transferring fibers from one machine to another.

Formerly much trouble was experienced by the accidental kindling'of fires in textile mills, and particularly in the trunks or conveyers in such mills, and the business of preparing cotton and other fibers for the manufacture of cloth was carried on under constant danger of destruction by fire. This danger has been obviated greatly by the use of automatic sprinklers, which in case of a fire occurring open and discharge water or other fireextinguishing liquid thereon, putting the fire out without much damage. One of the first uses that was made of such sprinklers was in the trunks or conveyers through which the cotton fibers pass from one machine to another; but in their application to such use it has heretofore been deemed necessary to place them in a dome-shaped holder in the top of the trunk to take them out of the path of the moving fibers in order to prevent the valve mechanism thereof from being covered up and to prevent the clogging of the trunk or conveyer. This method of applying the sprinklerswhile successful is quite expensive, and it is the object of this invention to cheapen the cost and to greatly simplify the application of automatic sprinklers to the trunks, which is accomplished by providing a protect ing inclined shield so formed that the sprinkler may be supported in the path of travel of the moving fibers without any danger of having its valve mechanism clogged up or of clogging the trunk.

To the above end the present invention consists of the devices and combinations of devices which will be hereinafter described and claimed. v

The present invention in shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of a trunk with one form of my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 shows a vertical section through a sprinkler, illus-' trating one manner of applying the prtect ing-shield thereto. Fig. 3 shows a bottom plan view of the form shown in' Fig. 2/ Fig. 4 shows another manner of applying the shield to the sprinkler. Fig. 5 shows a bottom plan view of the form shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 shows the shield as being secured to one member of the valve mechanism of the sprinkler.

Similar reference-numerals will be e mployed to designate corresponding parts throughout the specification and drawings.

In the drawings, 1 shows a portion of a trunk having a top 2 and a screen partition or floor 8, all of which is of a construction common in the art. sented as passing through the trunk in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1.

The sprinkler 4 is of a usual and wellknown type and comprises a base 5, from which is suspended a yoke 6. A valve '7 closes the opening 8 and is normally held closed by a vertical plate 9 and a trigger 10, which en'- gages the yoke 6 at its lower end and is con nected to the plate 9 by solder fusible at a predetermined temperature. The yoke 6 sup- The fibers are .repre ports a button or disk 11, which is designed to scatterthe water and cause it to spread over a larger area. The sprinkler is provided with a short threaded pipe or stem 12, by means of which it is supported in an aperture formed in the top 2 of the trunk.

It will be readily observed that should the sprinkler be located in the path of travel of the fibers, as shown in Fig. 1, without my improved protectingshield the fibers would cling and stick thereto, inclosing the valve mechanism and rapidly banking up would clog and obstruct the trunk, and yet it is desirable that such sprinkler be suspended, as shown, in order to lessen the trouble and ex Ico pense in applying them. To obviate the above difficulty and to permit the sprinkler to be suspended from the top of the trunk or conveyer, an inclined deflecting-shield is employed in connection with the sprinkler, which is located in front of the sprinkler facing the direction from which the fibers are traveling. In the drawings the shield 13 is shown of a shape to partially inclose the valve mechanism of the sprinkler, being open-sided on the side toward which the fibers are going. The shield is formed of any suitable material, preferably sheet metal, and is preferably so shaped that its upper end will form an arc of the base 5 of the sprinkler, while the lower end will form an arc of the button or disk 11, thus producing a tapering; form from top to bottom, whereby the fibers as they come into contact therewith will be deflected downward and laterally and pass along the trunk.

In the form which is shown in Figs. 4 and 5, which illustrate my improved shield as attached to the usual commercial automatic sprinkler, the shield 13 is attached to the base 5 by solder, (shown at 14,) said solder being preferably fusible at a lower temperature than the solder which holds the valve mechanism, whereby if a fire occurs the first effect will be to cause the shield 13 to become detached and drop off before the valve is released, and

thus not interfere with the distribution of the water. not detached before the valve is released, due either to a failure of the solder to melt which secures the shield to the base or the presence of fibers, which prevent the shield from dropping off after the solder is melted, the sprinkler is not entirely inoperative, as would be the case if the shield completely inclosed the sprinkler, as the open side on the shield permits the water to be distributed over one-half if not more of the area intended to be covered by the sprinkler in normal operation.

In the form shown in Figs. 1, 2, and the base 5 of the sprinkler is formed substantially oval or egg-shaped, either by casting or, as shown in Fig. 2, by attaching a substantially In case, however, that the shield is crescent-shaped piece of metal 15 to one side of the usual circular base 5, and the shield 13 is shaped at its upper end to conform to the change in shape of the base 5, whereby a greater degree of taper or inclination will be secured.

If desired, the shield 13 may be attached to one member of the valve mechanism and detached when the valve opens, which may be accomplished as shown in Fig. 6, wherein the shield 13 is provided with an arm 16, secured to its inner face, the end of which is arranged to be passed through an aperture 17, formed in the vertical plate 9 and secured therein by solder applied to the outer face of the plate 9 around the end of the arm 16. In this form, when the solder which holds the valve mechanism is melted, the plate 9 and shield 13 fall away from the sprinkler together.

\Vhile I have illustrated the inclined shield as being secured to the sprinkler, which is the preferred form of my invention in that it greatly facilitates the application thereof in the trunk, it is perfectly obvious that the same results would be secured by attaching the shield to the top of the trunk in front of the sprinkler, and when so attached glue or wax would be used instead of solder.

Having described the construction and mode of operation of my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States The combination with a trunk or conveyer for fibers, of an automatic sprinkler supported from the top thereof within the fiber-passage and an inclined deflecting-shield located adjacent to the sprinkler facing the direction from which the fibers are coming and open on the side toward which the fibers are going, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HAVEN O. PERIIAM.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN PHILLIPS, HORACE VAN EVEREN. 

